


Serpent Secrets

by comets_nix



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Aziraphale finds out about it, Bonding, Hastur (mentioned one time), Kissing, M/M, Snake Tongue, Trust, as usual, lil bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-31 11:51:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20114656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comets_nix/pseuds/comets_nix
Summary: "Any time, love." The demon blinked lazily, a crooked grin spreading across his face. While Aziraphale wanted to comment on the use of the name love, and how Crowley had so rarely used it- maybe only one time before- something else caught his attention between his friend's teeth."Crowley..." The angel's brows grew closer together. "What's going on with your tongue?"





	Serpent Secrets

**1950, London**

Night had fallen over England just about eight hours ago; the sun long gone to somewhere else as the stars took the sky all to themselves for the next many hours. Not a grand amount were very visible above the busy city of London, however, as it's lights shone bright through the darkness of 1 AM and drowned most out. No human nearby was very upset about it, luckily- the world still celebrating a breath of pace after the end of the greatest war currently known to mankind. Humans everywhere only remembered the time when their lights weren't allowed to shine- when their world had become darkness and only darkness, surrounded by the rubble and destruction of the weapons of war. A sky full of stars dotted with the flashing glows of bombs in the distance, inching closer to each home. Nights of pitch black where no sleep was had. _There could never be too much light now though,_ they thought.

The end of a decade and the start of a new one began that night; a new decade of pace, hope, and a warless world. The fifties were beginning, and everyone could feel it was going to be a good one.

The city had begun to rebuild; fewer and fewer shattered bricks remained among the sidewalks each day. More and more buildings coming back to life even better than before.

Including one building of which was an old bookshop collecting even older books, that just so happened to be owned by an angel and favored by a demon.

Aziraphale had watched the world become engulfed by war both times around, and while the latest had most certainly been the absolute worst- in fact, he had almost asked to speak to the Almighty on quiet a few occasions- the peace that came afterwards was even more so. This planet could never bore him; the way humans would fight over their slightest differences, forgetting they had all come from the same species as one, and destroy everything they had, only to make peace in the end until it began the cycle again. He had seen many wars go by, each one birthing a new world and newfound power amongst it. There were endless things to be discovered on Earth, and Aziraphale couldn't get enough of it. _How lucky he was,_ he thought, _that the Almighty had given him the honor to watch over humans._ The end of a war was always the best part, he supposed. When humanity, even if for just a moment in time, forgot their made up differences and simply existed together.

So the new year had just made it's spectacular arrival one hour ago, and the streets sang with pure joy that didn't plan to stop until the sun came up. Although, the angel wasn't exactly a part of the celebration outside his doors. No, he instead found himself happily locked inside his shop at the deep hours of the night, away from the excitement, drinking, and street jazz all around. He had seen every single New Year's eve pass since they first began honoring them in such celebration.

It was no angel's business, anyhow, to partake in such reckless partying and gluttony. Let the humans have their night even if yet again- they deserved it, after all.

"I must say angel, I'm surprised to see you all alone in here tonight and not out there showing the bars what drinking REALLY is." Aziraphale snapped his head away from his closed, dusted blinds- his hand quickly dropping from where it had parted them ever so slightly to see what all the whistling and commotion was outside. He wiped his fingers over his pants as his gaze danced about the floor, finding anything to look at but his demon friend who had managed to sneak in and caught him spying.

"Oh, Crowley..." he began, and had to claear his throat. "And I must say I am surprised to see you here too." When Crowley made no move or joke to tease him, as he so easily could have done just then, Aziraphale finally met his hidden gaze and smiled.

"Ah, well..." The hint of a Scottish accent teased Crowley's voice again as the demon shrugged looking down, and Aziraphale felt his non-existent heart flutter ever so slightly somewhere on the etheral plane. "Even a demon needs a break from all the sin going on tonight, don't you think?" His voice was softer than usual. His dark circle shades still hid his eyes, and the even darker Homburg hat hid his hair. The crisp and smooth ebony suit that framed his human body just a little too good seemed to melt into the shadows of the candle lit room, but Aziraphale could see that Crowley sat stiffly perched on the arm of his couch.

"Oh... well... I can't say I'm not a little bit surprised..." The angel finally smiled back.

He wanted to say more, joke a bit back maybe, and perhaps both of them really wanted to... but each fell satisfied with the comfortable silence between them. Somewhere in the streets outside, a cat call whistled and the cheering rose louder again, just barely heard in the ears of two supernatural beings. The three candles that sat on the desk next to Aziraphale danced their light over the pair through the shadows; although their eyes didn't really mind the darkness the light framed. Crowley looked down, at nothing, and found a small smile teasing his lips.

"Y-You really don't want to be out there, bringing sin about, and such? You've always enjoyed the new year..." Aziraphale had to say something before feelings got the best of him. Wrong feelings, about how Crowley was looking, framed in darkness and accented by candle light.

"Why so nervous angel?" A chuckle hinted Crowley's voice as the demon finally looked back up at the angel, fiery eyes pinned on bright blues from where they remained shielded. And _damn_ his voice for staying so smooth, as if speaking any harsher would shatter the quiet night around them.

"I-I'm not _nervous_," Aziraphale all but whined, his hands finding each other and wringing his fingers together, twisting his ring back and fourth.

"_Pfsh, yeah, and I'm not a demon_," Crowley's pristine teeth showed themselves at last- _the angel swore he saw a fang glint in the light-_ and the husky mumble of his voice did most unholy things to Aziraphale's tummy.

The angel tried to think of how to defend himself, but the half bottle of wine he'd been nursing all night was getting the best of him. He hadn't planned on seeing Crowley until at least the next day- his friend always took new years gratefully and most certainly seriously, when tempting was at it's easiest. It got Hell off his back for just a little while. So Aziraphale had been entirely caught off guard when his demonic friend had instead shown up all alone, quiet well dressed, in his out-of-style bookstore... The night had only just begun for some humans- the worst ones actually. There was no way Crowley was truly bored out there... _Or maybe they didn't even help committing sinful acts,_ Aziraphale thought. Perhaps anyone out now was best left un-messed with, even from a demon...

Bright blue eyes blinked a few times, only out of anxiousness. Aziraphale looked at Crowley like a deer in headlights, but the demon made no move to speak or taunt him for his stunned, embarrassed silence. For a moment, he wish he could see Crowley's eyes, and for an even shorter moment after that he wish he could see his wild hair.

"_Angel?"_ Oh, no, that whisper of a voice was much too soft, and if angels could sweat Aziraphale was sure he'd be drenched by now.

"Sorry dear, I just..." He trailed off, lips parted in a ghost of an explanation as his shoulders took over in a wobbly shrug. Crowley smiled, as if he could see right through the angel, and stood up with his usual lazy sway.

"Snake got your tongue?" _Yes, he definitely was showing his fangs now_. "I thought you'd be... happy, to see me." He stopped in front of Aziraphale, close enough to hear his uneeded breath. "Although now that I say it out loud, that does sound quiet ridiculous doesn't it..." If Crowley whispered to him like that just one more time, Aziraphale feared he may just buckle at the knees.

"Crowley..." Angelic hands rose with caution to hover in front of the demons ears. "Please, let me..." He needn't say it- only wait for Crowley to accept or decline. He'd done this a handful of times before but would never not give his friend an option. Aziraphale never quiet understood it exactly- probably never really would- but he knew it was important to Crowley for meanings beyond his own. Aziraphale wished to finish their conversation eye to eye, but waited patiently for his friend to consider.

The demon stared at him from somewhere behind black glass.

"It's okay..." He finally mumbled, full of uncontrollable trust. His dark lips remained parted, as if he wanted to speak, but when no more words came out Aziraphale completed his action and took the metal temples of his sunglasses between soft fingers to remove them from Crowley's face.

The angel couldn't stop his affectionate smile from exposing some of his own flat teeth as he gentley folded them closed, and hung them on Crowley's chest pocket. Orange serpent eyes brighter than hellfire gazed back at him, hooded and glossed over. Aziraphale wondered if his lips were parted so he could better smell the angel's emotions- he'd done it before, just a habit of the snake that never quiet left.

"I'd never be upset to see you Crowley." He started with a whisper, the moment around them suddenly very fragile. "Never in the six thousand years that we've known each other, have I ever been upset to see you. Now then, why are you here when you have so much more interesting things to do out there? I figured you wouldn't want to see boring old me until tomorrow." He tried his best to keep his blue eyes on Crowley's unfocused ones, because if he didn't he knew he'd instead gaze at those lips and see if his fangs were still out, or if his tongue was-

"I don't know. If you want me to leave I can..."

"N-no! I just mean, aren't you terribly bored here, instead of out partying with humans and what not?"

"'Course not. You're always so _considerate,_ angel..." The smirk said otherwise about his attempted insult.

Aziraphale couldn't stop his eyes that time from glancing down as the demon's mouth again, where his bottom lip sat snug against his top teeth. He could feel the beg for attention practically radiate from them.

And Crowley didn't need to ask it: Aziraphale heard him anyways, and tilted his head up ever so slightly enough for an answer.

Crowley leaned forward just as slowly as when Aziraphale had taken off his glasses, and rested his lips against the angel's. Aziraphale kissed him back as if he was made of glass; and Crowley responded just as gracefully. Each pair of hands came up to cup the other's cheeks in a ghost of a touch- Aziraphale's soft and smooth and Crowley's more sharp and cold. No breath needed between them; they exchanged what each other was feeling through spirit and sacred contact- a very personal way of asking, '_are you safe and sound, dearest?'_ And responding with '_perfectly so, now that I have you.' _Somewhere in another world, their wings opened and caressed each other's primaries. The ancient angelic way of shaking hands. If Heaven or Hell had seen this greeting performed, it would most definitely earn them a public show of mockery. But Aziraphale was always old fashioned anyways, and Crowley hadn't been an angel for a very long time.

It was another thing they had done just a handful of times through the centuries, when words from two different worlds were just too much to speak. They grounded each other this way- when emotions collided and got the best of them.

The tip of Crowley's hat dusted the angel's golden curls, and Aziraphale placed a more tender kiss out of pure love on the other's bottom lip just before they each pulled away. Another thing not so uncommon between them.

Their eyes opened, meeting each other's full of peace.

"_Thank you,"_ Aziraphale whispered. His head, mind, being was clear now, as was Crowley's.

"Any time, love." The demon blinked lazily, a crooked grin spreading across his face. While Aziraphale wanted to comment on the use of the name _love_, and how Crowley had so rarely used it- maybe only one time before- something else caught his attention between his friend's teeth.

"Crowley..." The angel's brows grew closer together. "What's going on with your tongue?"

"Hmm?" Crowley's expression evolved to something along the lines of confusion and being busted as his lips suddenly met each other tightly.

"Show me!" Aziraphale gasped. If not for the bright smile on the angel's cheeks, or the magically brightening light of the candles, he might have protectively said no and left for the night.

But, he allowed himself to be the one tempted that evening.

He parted his lips again, showing off the tips of two fangs, as a long, skinny forked tongue slithered it's way out between his ivory teeth. Aziraphale's eyes widened as they focused on the mesmerizing sight. A gasped inhale the only sound around them.

Crowley felt heat rise to his cheeks and deep in his chest at such a look casted upon him. It was a look of wonder, beauty, as if he was a Greek god on Earth. _No demon should be looked at like so by an angel_. Crowley instinctually pulled his tongue back in to wet it before allowing Aziraphale another look.

"I've never seen you do this before..." The angel blinked to make sure it was still there.

"Well, I can't exactly control it all the time. Sorta happens when I'm more nervous than I should be, or really relaxed or sunbathing, or fighting someone I suppose... It's actually happened quiet a bit, I've just never thought to show it off exactly..."

Aziraphale's brows furrowed again, and Crowley did not like that look.

"_Were you?"_

"W-What? Sunbathing? Don't be stupid angel, it's been dark for nearly eight hours!"

"In a fight?"

_Oh, there, he had royaly fucked up his only shot out of this conversation..._

The demon opened his mouth to lie, say _no, of course not angel, relax!_ But, lying came oh so difficult to someone who most definitely did not deserve it.

A shaky inhale exposed the truth before his words did.

"I mean, y-you should see the other guy!"

A fake laugh made it worse.

"Crowley!" _Oh no, he hated when his angel sounded so broken._ "What on Earth happened?"

"Look, it was just Hastur sending some assholes to taunt me because _apparently_ showing some decency and deciding to let a girl back out of lustful sin isn't very professional!" He shot a hand up to grab his glasses again, but Aziraphale's was faster as his soft fingers wrapped around Crowley's palm.

The demon froze. Aziraphale had never stopped him from putting them on before.

Two black claws held their position on the metal frames, while snake eyes stayed glued to their touching hands; he knew if he looked at those baby blues, he'd be done for. He wanted to keep his anger alive, use it to snap at Aziraphale for doing such a selfish thing... But it burnt out quickly with the stretching silence, and he couldn't stop the wave of calmness the angel so heavenly projected.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, angel, for fuck's sake..." He finally allowed his hand to be led away from his shades, and engulfed by the two pale hands of the angel before him.

"I am sorry they hurt you. And that I didn't realize your pain when you arrived."

"Stop it."

"Crowley, please look at me." He could never deny Aziraphale. Demon eyes found their home in angel blues, where he allowed Aziraphale to calm him down, take some pain away, and relax his anxious energy. He so rarely allowed a confession like this, for the risks it brought.

"I'm sorry too... For not telling you. I just didn't want you to worry about it. But it seems you already are, I guess..."

"I forgive you."

Crowley rolled his eyes.

"Oh stop that for sure, darling." They each smiled at last, and took in a sigh of relief as Aziraphale begrudgingly released his hand.

"Now then. Will you please stay here tonight?"

Crowely thought about it despite knowing the answer.

"I suppose. Won't it risk us being caught though? Hell doesn't let many mistakes go so unnoticed."

"Well, I'd like to see them say that to the face of God's trusted angel, dear! You're a friend in trouble and I'm simply here to save you." Crowley laughed deep in his throat.

"I like it when you try to act serious and intimidating."

"But I am being serious!" A real laugh escaped that time from each of them.

"Well, if I'm going to be hanging around here all night, I gotta do my job on someone, don't you think?"

Aziraphale's raised eyebrow spoke many things his smile didn't: _don't go there and ruin this Crowley, please, you know my limits. I love you but seriously._ But Crowley loved teasing his angel more than anything.

"Want to see what else this tongue can do?"

The angel turned away to hide his blush and genuine grin.

"Is that a temptation?"

"Probably."

"Well, I don't want you getting in trouble with work again now, do I?"

Crowley's fangs grew sharper ever so slightly, and teased his bottom lip.


End file.
